| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 521. The Quaker Graveyard |
| | | By Silas Weir Mitchell |
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| FOUR straight brick walls, severely plain, | |
| A quiet city square surround; | |
| A level space of nameless graves,— | |
| The Quakers’ burial-ground. | |
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| In gown of gray, or coat of drab, | 5 |
| They trod the common ways of life, | |
| With passions held in sternest leash, | |
| And hearts that knew not strife. | |
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| To yon grim meeting-house they fared, | |
| With thoughts as sober as their speech, | 10 |
| To voiceless prayer, to songless praise, | |
| To hear the elders preach. | |
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| Through quiet lengths of days they came, | |
| With scarce a change to this repose; | |
| Of all life’s loveliness they took | 15 |
| The thorn without the rose. | |
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| But in the porch and o’er the graves, | |
| Glad rings the southward robin’s glee, | |
| And sparrows fill the autumn air | |
| With merry mutiny; | 20 |
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| While on the graves of drab and gray | |
| The red and gold of autumn lie, | |
| And wilful Nature decks the sod | |
| In gentlest mockery. | |
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